Some images from March to July, through bud break and flowering to the first signs of fruit set.

In Cairanne berries on our Syrah vines are ripening and entering the véraison stage, when the grapes’ skins turn from green to purple and the texture changes from hard to soft as the berries ripen. As we tend to the vines during this crucial stage we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on what’s happened so far in the vineyard during the 2014 vintage.

Ever since 2009 when our winemaker Eric Monnin first stood in Boutinot Rhône’s highest plots – La Pauline and Les Six Terrasses – he knew that there was a chance to make truly magical wine. That dream is now a reality with the release of ‘Les Six’, Cairanne, Côtes du Rhône Villages 2011 – a unique blend of six varieties rather than the commonplace two (Grenache Noir and Syrah). This is the story of ‘Les Six’…

Generally we don’t subscribe to the ‘out with the old; in with the new’ mantra. Vieilles vignes (old vines), well tended and low yielding are generally a source of pride among vineyard owners and we are no exception. Yet sometimes we have to make the decision to clear a plot, dig up the vines and start anew – the vignerons equivalent of de-cluttering if you will. This was the case recently in our beautiful Saint Andéol vineyard…

That’s it! Our harvest is over – in the vineyards at least. All our vines have been picked, all by hand of course, finishing in style with our oldest Grenache Noir from Saint Andéol, some of which date back to the immediate post-war year of 1946. But that’s not the end, nor the beginning of the end – it’s just the end of the beginning. The hard work continues in the cellar every day. All our fermenters are full, so the long days continue to stretch from dawn to dusk monitoring every step of the fermentation as nature takes its course, aided only by our regular remontages and manual pigeages.

October’s here, the harvest is still in full swing and we’re still standing! After a cold night the weather today is again warm and sunny and our team of pickers went high up the slopes of La Montée du Ventabren to harvest old vine Grenache. Back at La Ruche (Cairanne) our cellar is gradually filling up and grapes are slowly turning into wine in our open top tronconiques (wooden fermentation vessels). Today the fermentation in tronconique 10, filled with incredible 53 year old Grenache Noir, came to its natural end and the tank has been racked, filling the cellar with enticing cherry and spice aromas.

The Boutinot Rhône harvest 2012 begins….at last! So far the weather has been perfect (sunny clear days with a good mistral blowing) and now it’s full steam ahead in the vineyard and the cellar. Days are busy and long but satisfying….no time for a long post so here are some images from the past week. A full 2012 vintage report will follow soon.

Like Séguret, Sablet is classed as a named Côtes du Rhône Villages. Its lush vineyards rise gently up the lower slopes of the Dentelles de Montmirail producing wines of great silkiness, for which Sablet is justly beginning to become more renowned. Notable for its medieval stone fortification, and ruelles (narrow covered alleys) its citadel of cobbled streets which spiral around the church of St Nazaire provided the inspiration for the name of our Sablet – ‘La Citadelle’.

Still on our short diversion between Séguret and Sablet we wanted to share some great pictures taken by the Timmons, the enterprising family behind The Wine Teacher, during a recent fact finding visit to the Boutinot Rhône Cairanne estate….

This week, we are taking a short break from our tour of the Rhône to reflect on old vines. ‘Vielles vignes’ have long been celebrated for their ability to produce better wine – an assertion mainly to do with the associated low yields. Dotted among the rudely healthy old vines in our Cairanne ‘Les Six Terrasses’ vineyard were some vines in need of a little attention. Back in January we photographed the process of rejuvenating an old vine, from ivy covered to expertly pruned and ready for Spring….